Dear Mike Benny,
Father says if you hear it on The River it must be so. Father also says there is no one more cynical than Mike Benny. That’s why I’m asking you this question. Dear Mike Benny, is there a Santa Claus? The kids at school all say there isn’t. They laugh and poke fun when I say there is. Would you please settle this once and for all and answer my question? Yours truly, Virginia

Dear Virginia,
Those kids at school are wrong. They’re jaded and much like myself becoming more and more cynical. But, sometimes cynicism can work for you. Of course there is a Santa Claus. Here are three reasons why I know this.
1. Virginia, there is a trillion dollar retail industry built around the belief in his existence. Ask your friends if all those people are wrong. Is some trickster pulling the wool over the eyes of Walmart, Sears, The Bay or Canadian Tire?
2. What about all those politicians who wish us a generic Happy ‘Seasonal’ salutation. If there wasn’t a Santa Claus why would they so vehemently avoid his existence.
3. But most of all Virginia, no letter to Santa sent through the mail has ever been “returned to sender”. So I ask you, what’s more likely, there is a Santa Claus, or the world’s post offices are all collaborating in a colossal global conspiracy?
And who keeps taking a bite from that cookie?
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!